Bipartisan Oregon House Delegation Releases O&C Forest Management and County Funding Trust Legislation American Forest Resource Council   Oregon U.S. Representatives Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden and Kurt Schrader released a discussion draft of bipartisan legislation aimed at resolving the forest management and county revenue crisis facing much of western Oregon. […]

Forest Policy Briefs by Rex Storm Associated Oregon Loggers House Committee Hears ESA Problems: US House Resources Committee Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA) held a hearing on economic impacts from the 40-year old Endangered Species Act. Tidal waves of ESA litigation block economic activity and hundreds of species listings overwhelm federal […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau Session Overview As the first official even-year legislative session, scheduled for only 35 days, it seems like the Legislature is under a steep learning curve on how to manage the month. While initial thoughts were that the session would be largely budget based, some concerning patterns […]

Does Portland have cheap cannabis? The cops say no. The drug dealers say yes. Natural Resource News Note: Consumers, apparently, agree with the dealers. According to PriceOfWeed.com, a site where users (in both senses) can upload information about how much they paid for their recent marijuana purchases, pot averages $250.12/oz. […]

By California Dept. of Food and Agriculture Dozer the detector dog has reported for duty! He brings our total to 13 dogs throughout the state that spend their working hours sniffing around package-delivery facilities, detecting parcels that contain fruits, vegetables, plants and other agricultural materials. These dogs protect California’s citizens […]

The weekly photo goes to Atlanta airport for installing a huge corn airplane. Here it is described by the Atlanta airport: “At Gate E-16 is probably the largest flying ear of corn you will ever see. From Nutt’s “Flying Vegetable” series, the design was inspired by jetliners. With its wings […]

Child Labor Regs Need Further Revision By American Farm Bureau Federation Young people and the contributions they make as members of farm and ranch families are vital to American agriculture, according to Missouri hog farmer Chris Chinn. Testifying on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation, she told the House Small […]

Natural Resource News Note: An immigration-status-checking program has been debated in the Washington statehouse. The program, known as E-Verify, provides a way for employers to quickly discover whether job applicants are in the country legally, and it’s already used in eleven cities and counties in Washington state. But lawmakers plan […]

State Representative Sal Esquivel Press Release SALEM—Rep. Bill Garrard (R-Klamath Falls) and Rep. Sal Esquivel (R-Medford) today testified to the House Judiciary Committee on their bill to help give communities a greater role in their own economic development. HB 4095 allows Jackson, Josephine and Douglas Counties to form an intergovernmental […]

Timber Industry Report By Rick Sohn Umpqua Coquille LLC Most measures are relatively constant this month, except unsold inventory made improvement, driven by decreased listings. Interest rates continue down. Prices of lumber, logs, housing, and mortgage statistics below, show the four-year dilemma of painfully slow progress out of this deep […]